Not applicable
1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to coasters that glow in a dark room, specifically, a coaster improved by an LED light source and transformer operated power source.
2. Description of Prior Art
The prior art either has a light source internal to the drinking vessel or has a coaster with springs and other moving parts to activate a light source powered by batteries, with the intention of illuminating the drinking vessel via the coaster or directly lighting the drinking vessel.
There have been a number of illuminated drinking vessel patents as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,068, Menashrov, Mar. 9, 1999, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,177 Rosaia, Apr. 29, 1997. These and other internally illuminated vessels do not provide the desired flexibility displayed by the use of a coaster which glows in the dark.
Some illuminated coasters are designed to illuminate when a drinking vessel is nearly empty such as a beer bottle at a bar. U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,250, Pearson, is an example of this of coaster.
There have also been a number of illuminated coasters with pressure sensitive switches requiring a reasonable container weight to effect lighting and are battery powered as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,265, Chen, Jul. 21, 1998.
These and other prior art illuminated coasters engage pressure sensitive switches with moving parts to activate the light source. The problem that may be encountered with moving parts is that sensitivity could change or fail with high usage and abuse but is a necessary part of the prior invention to conserve battery energy.
Another problem with pressure sensitive activated illuminated coasters is that, once the drinking vessel is removed from the coaster, the light goes out, making it very difficult to return the item in the dark to its original location.
A glowing coaster, having no moving parts, is composed of a wall transformer power supply, opaque or translucent base assembly, LED light circuit, translucent top and absorbent pad.
It is the intended that my glowing coaster to proffer a device that has no moving parts in order to reduce production expense and improve reliability.
It is further intended that the coaster be continuously illuminated in a glowing fashion for the purpose of establishing the location of the device in the dark, and hence the object located thereon.
It is also intended that the light produced by the coaster be sufficiently subdued as to not pose a disturbance to a person sensitive to sleeping without appreciable light in the room.
An additional object is to energize the device with a low power wall transformer to provide continuous power to an LED, so as to eliminate the use of batteries as the power source.
It is a further object of my coaster to reduce the heat energy dissipated within the coaster housing or surface through the use of an LED light source and a remote power supply.
The lack of any moving parts also makes my coaster far more attractive to purchase and operate.
With the continuous glow provided by my coaster, articles such as a glasses of liquid, eye glasses, medicine, etc. can easily by retrieved and returned without fumbling in the dark.
Negligible heat is generated from the light source; therefore, ice water in an insulated glass could be placed on the coaster and stay cool for hours.